FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

Following on from yesterday’s blog where we reported that grouse moor owners want licences to kill Marsh harriers (see here), this news has obviously stirred up a lot of interest and commentary. We just want to clarify something here. We were not at the RPPDG meeting where this conversation took place; we simply reported information […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2iuj7pb

Yes, you did read the headline correctly. We’ve received reports from a number of independent sources that at the November 2017 meeting of DEFRA’s Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), the Director of the Moorland Association (the mouthpiece for grouse moor owners in England), Amanda Anderson, said that grouse moor managers would be submitting applications […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2017/11/29/grouse-moor-owners-want-licences-to-kill-marsh-harriers/

In September this year, Natural England told blog reader Mike Whitehouse that “work on the six actions set out in the [2016] Joint Hen Harrier Action Plan is progressing as expected. Ultimately we believe these actions will result in an increase in the numbers of hen harriers breeding in England“. Earlier this month, in its […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2Bn7Fzk

Following last week’s excellent news that three Scottish Raptor Study Group members had won top prizes in the RSPB’s Nature of Scotland Awards (here), further congratulations are due as an MSP has lodged a motion asking the Scottish Parliament to recognise the efforts of two of these raptor conservationists. Well done, Logan & Andrea! Advertisements Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2zKlVWJ

Further to last Friday’s announcement on the establishment of the Scottish Government’s grouse moor management review group (see here), another member has joined the panel. Professor Colin Reid (University of Dundee) specialises in Environmental Law and currently serves as Chair of the PAW Scotland Legislation, Regulation and Guidance Group. We’re delighted to see this appointment, […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2BqZ1kt

A couple of weeks ago we blogged about how a masked gunman and his masked accomplice had been captured on camera close to a protected raptor nest in a public (Forestry Commission Scotland) forest (here). The incident was recorded in spring 2017 and was reported to Police Scotland. There have been no public appeals for […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2nb6L6O

The Mail on Sunday ran a story yesterday suggesting that the RSPB was responsible for the catastrophic decline of the English hen harrier breeding population. It went like this:   You might think this article was the handiwork of the grouse shooting industry’s propaganda machine, You Forgot the Birds (YFTB). It’s got all the hallmarks […] Read in full at Raptor Persecution UK http://ift.tt/2Aa0xsW